Trebbia OOB

Roman OOB
Sempronius
Velites: 4 x 12 man units
Hastati: 4 x 24 man units
Principes: 4 x 24 man units
Triarii: 4 x 12 man units
Cavalry: 4 x 8 man units

Total: 320 figures + command

Carthaginian OOB
Hannibal, Hanno and Mago
Libyan phalanx: 2 x 24 man units
Spanish scutarii: 2 x 24 man units
Spanish catrati: 1 x 12 man unit
Gallic warbands: 4 x 22 man units
African skirmishers: 4 x 8 man units
Balearic slingers: 2 x 8 man units
Spanish cavalry: 4 x 8 man units
Gallic cavalry: 4 x 8 man units
Numidian cavalry: 3 x 8 man units

Total 332 figures

There are, due to this being at reduced scale, some discrepancies with numbers. Proportionately, there should be a few more Spanish and Libyans and there should be slightly more Romans than Carthaginians. When the battle is played at full scale (roughly twice as many figures) these descrepancies will iron themselves out.

We will play out the battle on Wednesday night using re-jigged, hexless, Command and Colours rules. If the changes work out, including rules for manipular formations, command groups, etc., I'll make the bones available by email attachment - more annon.

My wooden Command and Colours dice arrived from Canada this morning and I can't wait to throw them in anger.

Phase 1 complete - Trebbia

After seven months of work my first battle has hit the table - The Battle of the River Trebbia. When deep into a project there is nothing like having a battle to boost the spirits and inspire greater output.

Although only half of the figures for this battle have been painted (it will be double this size by the end of the year) I can now imagine what the full size battle will look like. What is more, I can now start messing about and play-testing some ideas I have for rules.

Here are some snapshots of the armies deployed for battle (64 figures painted figures were not required).

Overview of the deployments:



Two shots of the Romans (see previous post for more shots):

The Carthaginians:




So there, we have it. At long last, phew!
Phase 1 is finished. Phase 2 will be painting figures for "The Battle of Lake Trasimene".

The face of Hannibal

The face of Hannibal

Stage one of the painting project is now complete. I have enough figures to play a reduced scale Trebbia. Here are the latest additions. Command stands, Spanish cavalry and Numidian cavalry. All told these do not make up the quota of 80, just 64 figures - but 62 are cavalry and that is some consolation, as is basing up over 320 Romans. I'll base up the 400+ Carthaginians over the next week so that I can set up Trebbia next Wednesday


Three command stands.

32 Spanish cavalry.

24 Numidians.

Figures are by Renegade and Crusader(?). Al are painted in enamels. Shield transfers are by LBM.

Time to base

The end of the first part of my Punic Wars project is drawing very near. I only have about 40 figures to paint to play my first game.

The job I like least is basing things up. Not the base cutting, but the scenic element. I dislike it so much that I invariably put it off until the very last moment. This time I've left it until almost 700 figures have been painted. I decided, on a whim, to base half of them over the last two days; I'll do the rest after I've finished painting the 40. I finished the Romans this afternoon. I got a start on the 40, and even managed a few shots of the Romans deployed for battle. I think they look pretty good.

All figures are Renegade. All are painted in enamels.

Bases are 4mm ply wood. 'Earth' texture is sand, grit, ground oyster shell and cat litter on a thick layer of PVA. The 'earth' was painted with watered down burnt umber acrylic ink. This war dry brushed with raw umber artists acrylic then dry brushed again with raw umber acrylic mixed with ivory household emulsion paint. Grass tufts are from Mutineer Miniatures - in early and late fall colours, long. I used 3 packets for this lot. The effect is for a 'Spain' look.

Here is a link to Mutineer Miniatures:

http://www.mutineerminiatures.com/

Mold making and drop casting

Having made my master of an 'ancient' cargo ship in 1:600, I now needed to make a mold for drop casting. To recap on the master:
http://olicanalad.blogspot.com/2009/07/making-master-for-ancient-merchant-ship.html

To start I needed a small tray; in this case the bottom of an unused butter dish. I filled this with plasticine, making the surface relatively smooth.

I made two mould boxes out of balsa wood. One to go around the master (rubber mold box) and a bigger one (plaster box) to fit around the smaller one. Note the difference in height, width and depth. Both were glued on three sides, the last side was not glued. I reinforced the outer joined corners with paper and PVA. It is very important that these boxes are square. I painted all the inner surfaces with Vaseline.

I laid the master in the centre of the plasticine tray and gently pressed to get an outline

I chopped out a hole and placed the master in it so that half the master was buried, carefully smudging the plasticine up to the edges of the model to remove any 'gaps' around the model; and I added three location holes with the end of a brush .


I placed the smaller box around the master, pinning the fourth side into position and sealed any gaps around the bottom with plasticine. I painted the surface of the master and plasticine with a very thin coat of Vaseline. I also sealed the corners of the unglued corners of the box with Vaseline.

I then mixed up enough rubber to cover the master and poured. The rubber is 96 - 98% rubber plus 2 - 4% catalyst - which I found hard to judge.

When it had cured I removed the box, cut of the 'flash' and put on the bigger box. Preparation of this box is the same as the small box. I also made four big location holes in the plasticine (not shown).

I mixed up some plaster of paris and poured this into the large box. Do this on a level surface.

When all was set I removed the box and molds. I forgot to take a picture of what I did next so bear with me. I took out the rubber mold with the model in it. I coated the surface with a thin layer of Vaseline and put it back into the small mold box 'master up' (as shown). Then I poured in the other half of the rubber mold.

When this had cured, I removed the box, put the rubber mold back into the plaster casing, and put the whole thing into the large mold box. I painted the surfaces with more Vaseline and poured on the other half of the plaster casing. Do this on a level surface, then the plaster mold will be 'square'.

When this had set, I removed the almost completed mold

I split the mold (it comes apart easily because of the Vaseline) and cut the first air vents and pouring hole. It is important that the pouring hole is big enough to get a good 'pour'. The vents allow air to escape the mold as the lead goes in. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that your vents all end at the top of the mold: HOT LEAD LEAKING OUT SIDEWAYS (OR DOWNWARD) IS NOT VERY GOOD! Don't overdo the first vents; you can add or enlarge after test casting.


VERY VERY IMPORTANT!!!!! LEAVE THIS TO DRY OUT THOROUGHLY. IT WILL EXPLODE IF YOU POUR HOT LEAD IN BEFORE IT IS TOTALLY DRY!!!!!!

Advice: Leave to dry for at least three days on top of a radiator or on a sunny window sill. After three days, put the plaster sabots in a very low (60 C) oven for three hours. When it is dry it will make a clean 'ceramic ring' when tapped.

When it is dry cut out two pieces of paper and put them into the 'holes' behind the rubber (between plaster and the back of each rubber mold). These provide just enough of a wedge to 'pinch' the rubber when the two halves of the mold are put together.

CASTING:
LIABILITY WARNING: I will not accept any liability for accidents on your part or for accidental misinformation on mine. This post is only a non professional guide as to my methods. Casting is VERY dangerous. If you copy what I do: YOU DO IT AT YOUR OWN RISK.

For casting I used the gas hob of a domestic oven, my melting pan (an old camping pot) and a vice. I also used a pencil, a soft brush, a sharpener and a piece of sand paper.

SAFETY: I wear thick cloth or thick leather gardening gloves (NO RUBBER OR PLASTIC!); I use goggles; I wear a cloth or leather apron and good solid leather shoes. SHOES are very important - sandals, trainers, slippers, shoes with ventilation holes or bare feet are a no-no - anything I spill is heading, by law of gravity, in the direction of my feet. Also - I NEVER MIX WATER WITH ANY PART OF THE CASTING PROCESS.



I sand down the point of a pencil, re-sharpen it and do it again about four or five times. I tip the graphite into the mold and brush about with the soft brush. I put the mold together, vice it up and pour in the lead of my first casting. This will be rubbish, the mold is cold.

When the mold warms up the casting gets better, but there will be problems with air escaping, etc. I work out where the air vents should be added to get a clear cast - remember they must end at the top of the mold or back into the casting. I had a problem with the 'swan' at the back - I had to add two air vents. I also had to widen the pour hole slightly.

Once I worked through the mold's niggles the castings were clean and easy.

This is not the best model I've ever made. It certainly isn't the best mold; I found working with the rubber I bought difficult. I've used the white stuff (RTV31) in the past and this has much better flow properties than this orange stuff. But it served its purpose.

Apart from the safety tips on working with molten lead, I have nothing to offer. Without a commercially available thermostatically controlled smelting pot it is all hit and miss to me.